Heroes of Midhgardhur

History

History of the World of Midhgardhur

This history is mostly from the perspective of the peoples of the North, and focuses on the known world.

The Age of the Gods – The creation of the world of Midhgardhur out of the primal void (“Ginnungagap”) by a confluence of elemental and divine powers. The origins of the gods, giants, dragons, elementals, and fey lie far back in the mists of the Age of the Gods . . .

The Age of Darkness – The wildness of the elements, the giants, and the darker gods gave rise to an age of dark marvels and incomprehensible evils. The aberrations and dark beings that occasionally surface from a bygone time date back to this Age.

The Age of Retribution – The gods and their allies went forth to battle the Darkness. Dark empires fell, the world was resculpted by celestial fury and dark desperation. In the end, the gods vanquished the forces of darkness and drove it back into the Underdark, the outer edges of the Nine Worlds, and to lonely, forgotten places of Midhgardhur.

The Coming of Men – The first men were created fairly late in the history of the world. Even then, the gods and their kin came repeatedly to the races of men, intermingling human bloodlines with divine ones, so that few men claim to be purely mortal, but rather “sons of Odhinn,” "sons of Rig (Heimdallur), etc. Of the First Men, it is said there were several Great Tribes that dispersed in the very beginning – the Omu went south and west, the Mashamim in the harsh deserts of the south, the Ningenai and Atalhai went east (and the Atalhai disappeared entirely), the Gwerryn went west, the Thioth (ancestors of the Northmen) went North, the Urya into the Southwest, and the Norrani to the south (where eventually they established the Norrani Imperium).

circa 8000 B.E. – The First City, Zunar, was established in the desert lands of the Mashamim. the legend of Zunar says that the Zunarites founded the city on lore plundered from prehuman ruins from the Ages of Darkness and Retribution. The Zunarite Empire eventually fell before the onslaught of other Mashamim tribes – the Ushar, the Urrab, the Shuma, and the Kumat. Ushar fell long ago, the Shumamites became nomads after the city of Shuma was leveled around 400 B.E., and the Kumatites remain eternally the same, though much diminished in glory. Only the Urrabites are on the rise, both city-dwelling and nomad, laying the foundations of a new Urrabite Empire in the days ahead. It is rumored that Sesset, the Serpent Empire of the Age of Darkness, survived long enough to infiltrate and participate in the fall of Zunar.

circa 4000 B.E. – The Omu had settled the southern continent of Omuria and the subcontinent that has come to be called Uryanah, which was conquered around this time by the Uryah tribes. This began the Uryanah Empire, which by the beginning of the Norrani Imperium had disintegrated into a loose confederation of city-states. Some fugitives of these city-states became bands of wandering nomads, gypsy-folk known today as the Ryanni. Around the same time, the Atalhai disappeared (some say over a land-bridge that has since vanished), and the Ningenai went east until they could go no further. Some Ningenai became city-dwellers in the far east, others became horse-nomads of the steppes (known as Ningumai or “Ningul”), and the Vajraningenai mystics took over the Plateau of Vajra. Ningenai, Vajran, and Ningul are related languages, but not mutually intelligible. Around 3000 B.E. the Ningenai organized into a mighty empire of their own, but they are so far east that the known world does not trade with them, except through the Ningul. It was perhaps around the same time that the Omu built city-states along the east coast of Omuria, most notably Zembara to the far south. A city-state named Nubara also flourished south of Kumat. Other Omu peoples remained nomads, such as the Zollu plainsmen and the Bunto jungle-folk.

circa 1500 B.E. – The island of Promethea sinks beneath the waves of the great western ocean, called by the Palnorrani “the Promethean Ocean” ever after.

*circa 1200 B.E. – The end of the Wilusan War with the sack of the city of Wilusa by legendary heroes of Palnorra. Legend has it that the Palnorrans gained access to the fortified city of Wilusa by means of a trick involving a large wooden horse in which the warriors hid, the “Wilusan Horse”

circa 800 B.E. – The city of Norra is founded

1 N.Y. – The Norrani Imperium is founded. The Eagle of Norra is replaced with the double-headed Eagle of the Imperium (representing Church and State, Hierarch and Emperor). According the Northern lore, this is the same year that the god Baldur was slain

circa 200 N.Y. – A hoard of skraelingar from the East raid the Great Temple at Uppsalir and steal the secret runestones from the temple’s treasury. They take the runestones back East, traveling down the river towards Palnorra.

410 N.Y. – The last of the Norrani Legions withdraws from the province of Prytania, leaving it vulnerable to conquest

449 N.Y. – Ethelling raids under Hengist and Horsa begin to overcome Prytani defenses and establish the “Ethelling Shore” on the east coast of Prytania

516 N.Y. – The Ethellingar invading Prytania are defeated at Mount Badun, but the great champion of the Prytani, the High King Urtur, was killed in battle. After this, there is no organized resistance to Ethelling domination of the island, which soon becomes known as Ethelland

500 N.Y. – The Norrani Imperium collapses in the West. The closest thing to a successor-state there is the confederation of Hierarch States, which has as its basis the Hierarchy of Dyovis, the chief Norrani god. In the East, the Empire of Palnorra exists as a successor-state to the Imperium, ruled from the capital at Argyropolis

575 N.Y. – Around this time, the mighty Bodhvarr of Gautland helps save Hjartarholl from terrible trolls in Sjaelland. Many years later, Bodhvarr is killed in Gautland by an ancient red dragon. His barrow by the sea is a sailor’s landmark in Gautland.

ca. 780 N.Y. – The city of Kaupangur was founded in Vestfold, a petty kingdom of Noregur

793 N.Y. – First Viking raids by Northmenn against northern Ethelland

845 N.Y. – The First Sack of Sequanaborg in Gaunorria by Vikings

860 N.Y. – Haraldur Halfdansson seizes control of Vestfold at the age of 10.

862 N.Y. – The infamous Sviar chieftain Rys declares his intention to find the lost runestones stolen from the Great Temple at Uppsalir around 200 N.Y. He and his followers head East, founding the Tribes of Rys and the Rys Khanate in the mysterious lands along the Vylga river.

865 N.Y. – The Great Army (led by Danir chieftains) lands in Ethelland and begins to conquer the north of the country (establishing the Denalagu – a Danir kingdom in northern Ethelland)

866 N.Y. – The Great Army occupies Jorvik and establishes the capital of the Denalagu there

867 N.Y. – The kings of Ethelland make a failed attempt to reconquer the Denalagu

872 N.Y. – King Haraldur Halfdansson wins the Battle of Hafursfjordhur, becoming the king of Noregur

874 N.Y. – The first wave of settlement at Nyrheimur, mostly by disaffected Northmenn fleeing the tyrannical rule of Haraldur Halfdansson. Many settlers also arrived in the Fareyjar islands and in Hjaltland

876 N.Y. – Hrolfur Ragnvaldsson “Ganger” first arrives in the area of the Sequana River in Gaunorria conducting viking raids

878 N.Y. – King Haraldur of Noregur declares his conquest of Noregur complete, and gives himself the title of Einkonungur

879 N.Y. – Rys allegedly discovers the key to the lost runestones and travels down the Vylga River towards Palnorra. He is never seen again, but many believed he had found the lost runestones, called “The Runestones of Rys” from then on. A chieftain named Oleg becomes the new ruler of the Rys Khanate.
Also in this year, Asa Ragnvaldsdottir and King Haraldur Halfdansson meet at the lost islands of Skildir and contend for the Ring of Dragons. Asa wins the Ring, and Haraldur departs in defeat

880 N.Y. – The “War for the West” begins between Asa Ragnvaldsdottir and King Haraldur Halfdansson at Fareyjar